Dane Cook, one of the most popular standup comedians in showbiz, is headlining this year’s Just For Laughs fall tour of Canada. Along with Vinny Fasline and John Campanelli, the American funnymen are getting out of their country at a delicate time. “I’m coming to Canada basically to escape our election process in America,” Cook tells Lynn Saxberg. “I had to get the hell outta here after all the insanity of political reality television.”

Q: How often do you tour?

A: This is my 26th year doing standup comedy, maybe 20 years professionally, consistently. The rigmarole of the routine is you go home, you work on the new set in small clubs in New York or Los Angeles, maybe a few gigs on the road. You spend a couple of years cultivating it, and you try to come up with a theme and a through line. If you feel it stands the test of time, it’s great to share it. This is the first time that I’m doing a pretty extensive Canadian run, which I’m really really excited about.

Q: What are your themes this time?

A: When I did Troublemaker, which was my last special three Novembers ago, it was primarily about relationships in a modern world, through tech, texting, the way we meet and the way we share and communicate. It’s already hard enough as humans face-to-face, but then you add the component of emojis and locked phones and all the trappings when you’re dating and wanting someone’s attention and there’s this device in between the two of you that you know they’re getting hit up on. I really had a great time exploring that, and I noticed there was a lot of couples at my shows on that last tour. Probably because they had such a good time with it, I expanded on it. I would say the new theme and through line is primarily about love.

Q: Do you draw from your own adventures in dating?

A: I do. When you’re a comedian and you’re in a relationship, there’s pretty much a moment, and I had this with my last girl that I was pretty serious with. I’ m not in a relationship now, but I remember we were in a bit of a discussion on something we couldn’t see eye to eye on. She looked at me and said, ‘I feel like you’re not listening but you’re observing me.’ There is that moment as a comedian where we find ourselves, whether it’s a relationship or wherever we can be observational, when we’re starting to absorb the idea that this is relatable. This is everybody. This is society stuff. So for better or worse, in my own relationships, it usually ends up on stage with my girlfriend or an ex either thanking me because it was a flattering light and I put myself in a disparaging place, or every once in awhile you’re taking a shot at somebody else. I’ve gotten a few calls and texts from exes who say, “I know you’re talking about me.”

Q: It’s not unlike dating a musician?

A: Yeah. I’m like the Taylor Swift of comedy. I change the names to protect the innocent. The only name that doesn’t get changed is mine.

Q: It seems you’ve experienced a backlash in recent years. Have you weathered it?

A: It’s so funny. It’s been 26 years in standup, and I felt backlash the first time I ever performed comedy. As a comedian, you start to get a thick skin early and you realize it’s a dog-eat-dog world. Comedy is more competitive than I think what most people know or believe. Comedians are very fragile, very competitive. My dad was an athlete. I grew up in an athletic household. He prepared me pretty early on for it: “Listen, here’s what life’s about. You take a lot of hits. If you’re searching for the rainbows every day you’re doomed.” So when all that stuff happened with me, I was so well versed in it that, strangely, I kind of enjoyed it. “Oh sh-t, this is part of it. This is the part that sucks.” And I’m now watching other fellow performers — whether it’s Amy Schumer or Kevin Hart, nobody gets out unscathed. Everybody’s going to be pointed at and put through the spanking machine. So I kinda feel that it’s a rite of passage, and I’ve taken it with a big dose of humour and not allowed it to dictate the one thing that’s the most important. Wherever I go, I’m going to walk into a room where there’s thousands of people that just want to have a good time, and get away from it all. I don’t allow that other negative stuff to impact my day.

Q: I’ve seen a couple of recent clips of yours that didn’t have swearing or vulgar bits. Have you cleaned up your act?

A: If anything, it was always about expanding everything — my vocabulary, my abilities on stage. Maybe starting out as a performer with a bit of writing that was bombastic, and youthful, and then when I hit my 30s, I started reading more. I was more into self-actualizing and self-reflection, becoming more of a lover of language and, dare I say, a verbologist in some ways, and using more tools to tell greater stories.

I wouldn’t say I’ve shied away. If there’s a great take on something sexual, or something that might be a little more lascivious, I’m gonna take it on, but there’s never been malice. Even if I was at my dirtiest, there’s nothing behind it that comes from a place of negativity. I’m not trying to hurt anyone’s feelings. Have I grown up? Yeah. I’ve definitely changed a lot, and I see that the demographic in my audience is wider, and that’s exciting. But I think part of what people enjoy is I’ll push it. I like to kick the lines once in awhile without burning down the house, so to speak.

Q: Are certain topics off limits?

A: Here’s how I look at it: A great comic can be a pin prick who gives us all the ability to laugh at ourselves, or at something that might be happening in the world that is almost impossible to fathom. It’s in music as well, but with comedians, it’s even more quick and direct. When we don’t shy away from those politically correct trappings, the right comic at the right event can do wonders. Look at what SNL can do just with the opening of their show: releasing what we’re all thinking, and getting it off our chests through humour. For me personally, I’ve never been a person looking for the furthest point of that line, and take it to the shock value. That’s not to say that I don’t, I’ve said some things that are pretty outlandish from time to time, but it’s not my routine to do that. But, dare I say, if I got on stage tonight and something occurred to me, you might say, “Geez, you took abortion or suicide on tonight.” If I think I have something to say about it that is insightful and funny, I’m not going to shy away even though I know some people in the audience might feel it in a different spot in their hearts.

Q: What about Trump? Is he part of your routine?

A: Trump made it into my routine a little bit from here and there, just because it was so prevalent. I’m not a political comic, it’s not my forte. I would say the one thing I find is the spectacle of it all, there’s humour in that. The politics is not so much my field, but just the perspective and the strong opinions. Every once in awhile, I’ll get up there and pick away at that.

Q: Sometimes bands tour Canada to warm up for a bigger tour. Is that the case for you?

A: No. (Laughs) I would say if there was any place that I was going to warm up, it wouldn’t be Canada. I’d be doing a Hawaii run if I really wanted to warm up. Here’s the thing about Canadians. First of all, my father’s side came from PEI, so I feel like they’re my brethren up there. But as a comedian, having spent a lot of time in all areas of Canada, both with standup and film and television work, I love the audiences up there. Two things are happening at once, as an audience, they’re excitable and glad to get some fresh entertainment in whatever city. But also, they get it. They’re right there. They’re smart comedy fans. I grew up loving SCTV and feeling like the Canadian sense of humour was really sharp, really silly, but at the same time it could be irreverent but on the pulse. And I like that. On my last run, which was about six years ago, I did a U.S. tour but I did the Canadian leg of it first because I felt like if I’m not getting the big laughs I know I want and can get when I go to Canada, then that stuff might not make the cut for us, or I might come back and retool it. So yeah, there are more tour dates coming, but I couldn’t be more excited to take this two-year labour of love and start it up in Canada.

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